


close your eyes (and pretend with me)

by ariquitecontrary



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: All The Tropes, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-29 08:26:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18774931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariquitecontrary/pseuds/ariquitecontrary
Summary: “I’ll do it.”She looks at him in shock. “Really?”He nods. “Sure, but what about after? I’m pretty sure you don’t plan for us to do this for the rest of our lives, do you?”Or in order to get her mother off her back, Sansa gets her best friend to agree to be her fake boyfriend for a week long trip back to Winterfell.





	close your eyes (and pretend with me)

**Author's Note:**

> This story is going to be a fluff FEST, you have been warned. 
> 
> Also, lets pretend that Winterfell is somewhere located in America because this is one of those stories where the author is definitely American and can't hide it. 
> 
> No beta so any mistakes are mine. I hope you enjoy this. :)

If you asked Sansa Stark, being single at 23 was not that bad. In fact, it wasn’t bad at all. She loves her life. She has an incredible job that has allowed her to travel to some of the most beautiful places in the world. She has her best friend as her roommate and they’ve finally moved into a nice apartment that doesn’t have mold growing in the ceilings. Her family is healthy and happy; _she’s_ healthy and happy. And she even adopted a beautiful baby Alaskan Malamute that she decided to name Lady. She has never been more happy and content with her life than she is right now. 

“I just worry about you,” her mother, Catelyn, says over the phone; not caring about a single one of those things. Sansa takes another spoonful of Nutella and licks it straight off the spoon. No doubt her mother would not be thrilled if she saw her do it. “I just want you to be happy.” 

“What makes you think I’m not happy?” She asks, words coming out a little thick due to the hazelnut spread that she’s currently trying to swallow. “I am happy!” 

“Of course, dear, but well… all a mother wants for her children is for them to be happy and find love. Just look at your brother and sister!”

Ah. Of course. It always comes back to this, doesn’t it? Robb just had to fall for Margaery, which especially sucked for Sansa because her brother and best friend? That was a pairing that definitely took some time to get used to. She isn’t even sure if she actually is fully used to it yet. And Arya met Gendry Waters at her mixed martial arts school and that had been the end of that. Hell, even Jon had finally proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Ygritte. That was probably the one that got her. Cousin Jon, that sulking and dorky weirdo, was _engaged_. She loved him to death, but honestly. What the hell was she doing wrong? 

“I’m not my brother and sister,” Sansa whines. “I’m happy, mother. Really I am. I wish you’d stop worrying so much.” 

Her mother scoffs and she can only imagine Catelyn Stark throwing a hand to her heart dramatically. That's what she did when she really couldn’t believe something her children just said. Robb and Arya used to mock her all the time for it and Sansa would laugh while mother told them to behave. She never got mad at them for it, though. 

“Stop worrying about my daughter? Now I know you’ve lost it!” Sansa laughs and she’s glad to hear her mother follow along. She knows her mom means well and that she only wants the best for her, but really, Sansa isn’t in a rush to fall in love. She hasn’t exactly had the best track record when it came to dating and while she feels like she’s gotten over all of that, it still doesn’t have her wanting to jump into a relationship just yet. She hopes her mom can come to terms with that someday. 

“Well anyway, I just wanted to check and see if you’ve purchased your ticket to come home yet,” her mother says, changing the subject. “Your father is very excited to have all of you home.” 

Sansa knows exactly what she means. Just thinking about going back to Winterfell for a week has her giddy in her seat. Living a thousand miles from her childhood home had once seemed impossible, but the truth now is that she doesn’t know how she could have ever wanted to stay. Winterfell was home, sure, but she loves the city she lives in now. It’s beautiful and loud and busy and nothing could ever compare to it. Still though, the idea of going home is exciting. It’s been a while since she’s seen her parents and she misses them dearly. 

Her dad turns fifty this year and they’ve decided to have a huge party back in Winterfell to celebrate it. 

_‘Half a century, old man,’ Robb had joked over a FaceTime call with them last month. ‘That’s monumental.’_

Ned Stark was never one for parties, but it had been awhile since the entire family would all be home together, so really how could he object? They’ve even decided to stay for an entire week so that they could all catch up and really spend quality time together. Honestly, she’s just excited to see Bran and Rickon. She sees way too much of Robb, Arya, and Jon considering they all live in the same city as her. She’ll complain about them following her until the end of time but the truth is that she’s glad they’re near her. She’d probably be completely lost without them. 

“Yes, I bought my ticket already.” She had bought it the second they confirmed dates. “I’m leaving a day earlier than everyone else.” Gendry has an MMA match on Saturday night that Arya and him have to attend, Jon and Ygritte had bought tickets to the match months ago and they don’t want to lose out on their money so they’ll be there too. And Robb and Margaery, well… Margaery was always late to everything. They weren’t actually scheduled to get there until Sunday since father’s birthday isn’t until Wednesday, but Sansa misses her parents and she doesn’t have a reason to stay behind. So she’s leaving early. 

“Oh, that’s wonderful! I’ll make us a nice dinner. Will you get here early enough?” 

“Yeah, my flight gets there at five in the afternoon. Should I get a taxi to the house?” 

Catelyn scoffs. “Of course not! Your father will pick you up, don’t be silly. You know how he feels about you getting in the car with strangers.” 

Sansa rolls her eyes. “He does know that I’m an adult, right?” 

“You can be an adult all you want, Sansa. You’ll still always be his little girl.” She immediately blushes at the words. Her and her father have always been close and she has to admit that she misses him the most. She’s always had him to fall back on and it was hard getting used to life without seeing him everyday. She’s excited to go back to Winterfell and see him. Still though, she’s embarrassed by the words and she’s sure her mom realizes, because she changes the subject shortly. “Are you sure I won’t need to set an extra plate for dinner?” 

Sansa laughs. “I’m sure, mother. I’ll be going alone.” 

“Oh, fine! So have you seen your siblings or cousin lately?” 

For the next hour and a half, Sansa fills her mom in on everything happening here while her mom tells her the town’s latest gossip. Winterfell is a small place, everyone knew everyone which meant gossip is a common factor. It was one of the very many reasons that she had to get out of there. 

She’s having such a good time with her mom that she doesn’t even realize it’s a little past ten at night. Her parents are always asleep by nine, so she wishes her mother a goodnight and hangs up the call before she passes out on her. 

It might be late for her mom, but it sure isn’t late for Sansa. 

There’s a knocking at her apartment door almost ten minutes after she hangs up the call and she smiles at the noise. As she gets up and opens the door, the grin on her face only grows. 

They’ve lived in the city for three years now and it never fails, every Friday night her, Robb, Arya, and Jon would get together and have a family night. It’s grown from just the four of them to eight of them now. Jon had been the first when he brought Ygritte over to Arya’s one night. He was nervous the entire night; scared that his family wouldn’t accept his new girlfriend joining in on their fun, but he had been wrong. They had all loved her immediately. Honestly, Sansa was a fan of any redhead. It did help that Ygritte was such a down-to-earth girl who can arm wrestle Jon and Robb and win. Next was her. She brought along Margaery one night, which had been the beginning of Robb’s infatuation. It all worked out in the end though, considering how grossly in love with each other they were now. Then it was Arya. Gendry was training at the gym she worked and trained at and of course it was love at first drop kick. Literally. Arya had accidentally landed a practice kick wrong; dropping him to his knees and giving him a black eye. Somehow _that’s_ what drew him to her.

And then it was Robb. He brought along a friend from work, Theon Greyjoy. Theon had been different from the others. At first Sansa hadn’t quite cared for him. He had been cocky and even a little rude. He hadn’t complimented her cooking that night and he flirted with Margaery even though he had known that Robb liked her. He was a jackass and Sansa didn’t like him. And then one night, they all went out for drinks and she saw a part of Theon that she hadn’t known existed. He had been upset; that much was easy to see and Sansa, being Sansa, asked him if he wanted to talk about it. So he did. He told her about his past and about how he had struggled with some really dark stuff and she listened. It was the first time she saw the real Theon, the one under all the snarky comments and cocky smirks, and she liked him. After that night he was different; he was better. He was himself. It didn’t take long before he and Sansa were close friends. It’s almost funny how much she had disliked him at first, because now she couldn’t even imagine her life without him. He’s her best friend.

So it’s no surprise to anyone that he’s the first person she hugs as soon as she opens the door. His arms wrap around her tightly and he even leans back to pick her up off of the ground a little bit. She laughs at that and squirms in his arms. 

“Put me down,” she says through her laughter. “You’re going to drop me!” 

“I would never.” His voice is right in her ear and she can’t deny that she likes that. She’s always liked having him close to her. Theon was one of those people that just immediately made her feel at home and comforted whenever he was near her. 

“Alright, alright,” Arya says in mock disgust, “if you two weirdos could please get out of the way so the rest of us can get through, that would be lovely.” 

They do pull away but not before giving each other a look; the same one they always give each other when Arya’s being Arya. One by one, everyone walks in after giving her a welcoming hug; though none of them are like Theon’s. Arya actually punches her in the shoulder. 

“Where’s Margaery?” Robb asks once they’re all inside. 

“Getting alcohol. She said my wine wasn’t good enough.”

“No offense,” Ygritte says, which definitely means she’s about to offend her, “but your wine tastes like shit, Sansa.”

“It does not!”

“It tastes like fruit punch,” Arya adds on. 

“I drank a whole bottle once and was as sober as I had been when I woke up,” Robb says.

“Jon got drunk off of it!” Sansa shouts, feeling the need to defend her favorite wine, and watches as her cousin’s face goes red. 

“Okay, but Jon is a lightweight so really that just makes both of you look bad.” 

“Hey,” Jon pouts in a way that Sansa had never seen _until_ he met Ygritte. His girlfriend pats his back and places a kiss on his cheek to soften the dig she’d just given. 

“Well, whatever. You guys can get drunk off of your liquor tonight and tomorrow when you all have raging headaches, I don’t want to hear it.” 

Everyone groans and whines at that. Sansa’s the only one who doesn’t care for hard liquor so she hardly ever gets any kind of drunk, which means that more often than not she’s playing nurse the next morning. She doesn’t mind it really. It’s always funny to see everyone relying on her and acting like she’s some sort of goddess for doing simple things like getting them water. It does wonders for her self-esteem, but she’ll never tell them that. 

“Theon can take care of us,” Gendry jokes. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him have a hangover and I think we all remember that night when he drank an entire bottle of Grey Goose by himself.” 

“That’s what owning a bar does to you,” Robb says as he claps Theon on the shoulder like it’s some kind of honor that he’s immune to getting hangovers. Maybe it is, she doesn’t know. “Theon here hasn’t had a hangover since I’ve known him.” 

“And I never will,” he says as he shoves Robb’s hand off of him. “Learn how to keep up.” Which was absolutely the wrong thing to say, because now Robb is trying to challenge him to some kind of drink off. Sansa spends the next fifteen minutes trying to hide her bottles of wine from them as they demand she hand them over so they can see who’s truly superior here. She tells them they’re idiots, but it’s not until Margaery walks through the front door that Robb _finally_ decides he can let it all go. 

As soon as he’s off to makeout with his girlfriend, leaving Theon and Sansa alone in the kitchen, she whirls around to glare at her best friend. 

“Why do you do that?” She asks him, exasperated. Theon continues to lean back with his elbows on the island in her kitchen, looking completely surprised at her question. “You know how he gets.”

“Not my fault he can’t take a joke,” Theon laughs. 

“Well, no, but you don’t have to egg him on.” 

“I’m not doing anything!” The smile on his face tells a completely different story. “Oh, come on,” he says when he sees the annoyed look on her face. He pushes off the counter and walks over to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to him. She tries to push him off, but then he wraps both of his arms around her to keep her by him. “I’m sorry, okay?”

“Are you?” 

“Of course I am, Sansa. I’m sorry your brother is a softie who doesn’t know how to drink or take a joke,” he says the last part loudly so that everyone in the other room can hear him. 

“What was that?” She hears Robb yell from the living room. 

“You’re such an asshole,” she laughs, the angry facade dropping almost immediately. “One of these days he’s going to kick your ass.” 

“Nah. You’d protect me.” 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Sansa pushes apart from him at the new voice and this time Theon lets her go. Arya stands in the doorway, a beer in her hand and disgust on her face. “Why do you two insist on being so disgusting? Between you and Robb and Margaery, I think I might actually throw up.” 

“What?” Sansa asks, confused. 

“It’s not my fault Gendry’s too scared to touch you,” Theon teases. 

“Scared?” Gendry walks into the kitchen, never too far from Arya. “I don’t think I’d call it that.” 

“Get your filthy hands off my sister,” Robb says. 

“As soon as _she_ gets her hands off you,” Arya says with a pointed look towards Margaery, who just smirks and wraps a manicured hand around Robb’s bicep. 

“I’m gonna go fuck Jon in the bathroom,” Ygritte says and every groans at that. 

“You’re so foul!” Margaery cackles. 

“Seriously, no one wants to think about that!” 

“Then shut up,” she tells Arya who just flicks her off with a grin. To no one’s shock, Arya and Ygritte got along like a pair of thieves. Sansa’s not entirely sure that they aren’t the same person. 

Everyone’s in the kitchen now and it’s a little too crowded for such a small space, but for some reason that makes it feel right. 

Theon starts mixing drinks for Robb, Margaery, and Gendry while Arya, Jon, and Ygritte stick to beer and Sansa pours herself a glass of wine. They’ve decided to make tonight a movie night and it’s Robb’s turn to pick so she has no doubt they’ll be watching something with a lot of violence. She loves a good action movie as much as the next person, but Robb always managed to pick the goriest ones. She thinks she might hate his movie picks more than Arya’s, who forces them to watch weird indie films with the most unsatisfying endings ever. 

Everyone is drinking their drinks and talking amongst themselves. Sansa sits on her countertop, something she never used to do back at her childhood home, and watches as Arya uses Jon to give them a live demonstration of how she kicked some guy’s ass in the ring at practice today. They’re all laughing at Jon’s dramatics groans, that she doesn’t realize that Theon has snuck up on her. 

“I’m going to miss this,” he says quietly enough that only she can hear him. He’s leaning against the countertop again, but this time he places an arm behind Sansa. 

“Miss what?” 

“This.” He gestures out to the kitchen. Arya has Jon in a chokehold and Ygritte is recording it on her phone while she snorts with laughter. Gendry is throwing back a shot of something. Margaery is dancing to some horrible song that Robb is playing on his phone while he watches and cheers. They look like a pack of wild animals. They look like a family. 

“We’ll only be gone a week,” she reminds him gently. “You could always come with us, you know. Mother and father would love to have you.” She had tried to get him to come along. Everyone in this room would be in Winterfell by next week; family boyfriends and girlfriends were always invited to their get togethers. Sure, Theon wasn’t dating any of them, but he was still a part of their group. It felt a little wrong that he wasn’t going. She would miss him too. “You could keep me company!” Which was true, he could. Everyone had someone; everyone except her. 

She wasn’t lying when she told her mother that she was happy as she is, because it’s the truth. She doesn’t yearn for love or a man, not right now at least. She’s content with her life, but still. She sees her all siblings and Jon so happy in their relationships and it almost makes her feel a little out of place sometimes. That’s why she loved having Theon around. She didn’t feel so lonely when he was with her. In fact, she never felt lonely at all around him. 

But he still shakes his head at her request. “No, I can’t leave the bar on such short notice.” He could. He definitely could. He runs the place with his sister and Sansa knows that she’d be more than happy to watch after things if Theon decided to go. She doesn’t push him, though. “I’m sure you’ll have fun without me.” 

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure. No doubt mother will be on my case about being single at such a young age.” It hadn’t helped that Arya had decided to go out and find her soulmate. Really. Arya of all the people. Now her mother definitely thought there was something wrong with her if even Arya was out there finding love and happiness. 

“Are you two talking about mom trying to set you up?” Robb asks suddenly. She hadn’t noticed that they weren’t alone in their conversation anymore, although they had been talking so quietly that it was hard to really hear what they were saying. 

“No,” Sansa says. “And she isn’t trying to set me up.” 

Arya snorts at that. “I hate to tell you this, Sansa, but she is.” 

Her mouth drops open. “What?” 

“Yeah,” her sister nods, looking like she’s having way too much fun. “She called me the other day and asked me if you were still insistent on being single. Said she has this nice friend whose son is an accountant and could make an honest woman out of you. I think his name is Gary.” 

Jon and Robb howl with laughter and Sansa turns red. 

“Shut up,” she hisses. “You’re lying!” 

“She’s not,” Robb tells her through his tears. “I was there when she called. Gary the accountant! I imagine you two will make a lovely couple.” 

She clenches her jaw and tightens her grip around her wine glass. This is just like mother! God, she loves that woman to death but sometimes she could be so pushy. Sansa is _happy_. She had told her over and over again. Why was that so hard to believe? 

“I’m not going on some stupid blind date,” she says, not laughing at all. 

“Yeah, good luck telling your mother that.” 

She glares at her cousin, but Jon just keeps laughing. She really doesn’t understand what’s so funny here, but the more they laugh, the angrier she gets. Theon can tell that she’s getting upset; she knows this because he presses his palm onto her back comfortingly, where no one can see. It’s crazy just how quickly the touch _does_ calm her down. 

She doesn’t understand why they can’t be like Theon. He never makes fun of the fact that she’s single. In fact, he never brings up her love life at all. She hadn’t realized it until now, but she’s never been so thankful for it. She thinks that maybe he gets it. She just wishes that everyone else could get it too. 

She glances down at Theon from where she’s sitting and he looks up at her, a questioning look in his eyes. He looks troubled, like he wants to ask her if she’s okay; if she needs him to kick any of their asses, and he would probably do it too if she asked. Over the years it had become some kind of unspoken rule that Theon would do anything for her. It was a lot of little things; like letting her have the last sour gummy worm or letting her put on her cheesy rom-coms for the hundredth time. But sometimes it was the big things too; like when he punched out a guy for groping her at a club once or when he sat with her on her bathroom floor at 3am as she drunkenly cried on his shoulder. He never asked why she was crying. He just held her and combed his fingers through her hair. He probably doesn’t even know that she remembers, but she does. She does and it means the world to her. Theon is always there for her and Sansa loves him; he truly was the greatest friend she could have ever asked for. 

Which is why the idea that runs through her mind seems absolutely perfect. Perfect and insane. It’s out of her mouth before she can even stop it. 

“I can’t go on a date with Gary the accountant because I already have a boyfriend,” she says through her teeth. Several things happen at once. 

Arya, Jon, and Robb immediately stop laughing. 

Jon drops his beer. 

Robb chokes on his. 

Arya’s mouth drops. 

Margaery yells out in shock. 

Gendry and Ygritte watch on in amusement. 

Theon’s hand falls from her back and he steps away from her. 

“No, you don’t,” Robb says when he finally gets ahold of himself. 

“Yes, I do.” 

“Oh really?” Arya asks, eyes narrowing. “Then why haven’t we ever met him before?” 

She glances over at Theon. He’s giving her a weird look that she doesn’t really know how to describe. She softens her eyes at him and then he’s looking at her in confusion. And then it clicks. She can see the moment that he realizes what she’s about to do, because his eyes widen like he’s some kind of cartoon character. 

“You have met him,” Sansa says shakily as she looks back toward everyone. Arya, who had been watching her closely, is now glaring daggers at Theon. 

“Who--?” Robb starts, but before he can finish the question, Sansa hops off the kitchen counter and grabs ahold of Theon’s hand. It’s shaking and clammy and she hopes that he’ll just go along with all of this. 

It’s almost funny the way that Robb’s mouth falls down in complete surprise. The entire room is silent and she can feel her heart racing in her chest. She thinks she might even be able to hear it; she hopes that no one else can. 

“Uh,” Jon drags out for a few seconds. 

“No way,” Robb says. He’s not angry, not that she can sense, but he doesn’t seem happy. “There’s no way. My _little_ sister?” He directs at Theon. 

“I--.” 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Margaery asks, cutting off whatever Theon was about to say. She looks genuinely hurt and Sansa feels terrible. Maybe she hadn’t thought this through enough, or at all really. “Or tell _me_?” 

“We were waiting,” she says a little helplessly. She casts a look at Theon, but he’s looking straight at Robb who’s looking at him like he’s five seconds from killing him. She needs to diffuse this situation and _fast_. “We were going to tell everyone at dad’s party.” 

“Okay, hold up,” Jon says, shaking his head. “When did this happen?” 

“Just a few months ago. That’s why we didn’t want to say anything. We didn’t know if it would even work out between us and we didn’t want to make it weird between everyone if it didn’t.” 

Jon nods slowly as if he’s still not understanding. 

“Okay let’s be honest here,” Ygritte says, a little bored, “there’s no way that you guys are _this_ surprised.”

“What?” Robb asks, shocked. 

“She has a point,” Gendry adds. 

“ _I’m_ surprised!” Robb says, hysterical. “I mean… what the hell, Theon?” 

Theon opens his mouth, but Sansa cuts him off before he can say anything. She has a feeling he’s two seconds away from ruining everything. 

“It’s not his fault, Robb! I’m the one who asked him out.” She doesn’t know where these lies are coming from or how she’s able to think of them so quickly, but it’s like she has an entire script in her mind already. She’s thankful for it. It makes this seem more authentic. 

“That’s definitely not surprising,” Ygritte jokes under her breath. 

“You could have said something,” Margaery says. “We would have supported this, Sansa.” 

“Speak for yourself!” Robb shouts. “There’s no way this is happening. Absolutely not.”

“Excuse me?” Sansa’s taken aback. Sure, Robb has never exactly loved the idea of his sisters dating. He had always been a protective guy, more so over Sansa than over Arya, but he _knows_ Theon. She didn’t think he’d have an issue with this at all. Theon’s his best friend; which she reminds him of right now. 

“Exactly, he’s _my_ best friend. I know how he is with girls and I’m not about to let him do that to you.” 

Sansa’s mouth drops and she looks over at Theon who is making it a point not to look back at her. His eyes are on the floor now and when she tugs on his hand to get his attention, he ignores her. She doesn’t know much about his dating life. Truth be told, they never really talk about that kind of stuff. She knows that he doesn’t like to date, but she has no idea what Robb is referring to. 

“Robb,” Theon finally says, practically begging. 

“You could have at least talked to me about this,” her brother says to his best friend. 

“I would never hurt her.” 

She snaps her head towards Theon at the statement. Of course she knows that he’s telling the truth. Sometimes she feels closer to Theon than she does anyone else in this room, so she knows that he means what he says. He wouldn’t hurt her, of course not. But it’s the way that he says it. He says it like he’s never meant anything else in his life except for that one sentence. He says it softly, but with a kind of seriousness underneath it that can’t be faked. She squeezes his hand again and this time he does look at her. He doesn’t smile at her, but his eyes look more understanding than they had earlier. She’ll take it. 

Robb, however, doesn’t seem convinced. Instead he turns around and walks out of the room. Margaery calls out after him, but he ignores her. It isn’t until they hear the front door slam shut that she realizes he might actually be really upset. She feels awful. 

She hadn’t meant for him to get so upset. She hadn’t even meant to say any of the things she did. She just panicked. She was tired of her mother always nagging her about finding love and then to hear that she was going to be set up on a blind date? She did the first thing she thought of. She’s realizing that she might have acted a bit irrationally. 

No one moves or says anything. They’re all just looking at each other, waiting for someone to say something. Sansa really doesn’t want to go first. 

“It really does make sense,” Arya finally says after a while. “You two are sickening enough. I guess we should have seen it coming.” 

“I’m sorry,” Sansa says, even though she really isn’t apologizing for anything. 

“Don’t be sorry,” Arya says. “Are you happy?” 

That’s easy enough to answer. 

“Yes.” It’s the same thing she’s always said, so she doesn’t have to lie about that. 

“Okay then. That’s all that matters. Robb will get over it.” 

“That was so sweet of you,” Gendry coos jokingly at his girlfriend, who punches him in the shoulder. 

“Are we going to watch this movie or what? Someone go get Robb’s sulky ass in here. Tell him to stop being so dramatic!” 

Margaery moves to do just that, but Sansa stops her. 

“I’ll go,” she says. “I need to talk to him. I just need to talk to Theon alone real quick.” 

Margaery just nods. Sansa knows that she’s upset with her too and she gets it, she really does, but she knows that Margaery will easily forgive her. She’ll talk to her once everyone is gone. Robb’s a wild card though. She needs to talk to him before he really gets in one of his moods. 

One by one, they all leave the kitchen until it’s just Theon and Sansa standing alone in there again. She sighs and turns to look at him and for the first time in a long time, he looks mad at her. 

“What the fuck?” He hisses. “Sansa, what the hell were you thinking?” 

“I wasn’t! I just… I panicked and did the first thing I could think of.” 

“Why was _that_ your first thought?” He runs a hand through his hair in frustration. “This is bad. You know they’re going to expect me to go to Winterfell with you now, right? That’s a whole week of us pretending that we’re dating.” 

Which okay, she hadn’t really thought about that at all. 

“It’ll be okay,” she tells him. “We can just act like how we do now. Maybe hold hands a bit more? That doesn’t seem so hard to me.” Theon doesn’t look convinced and she sighs. “If you don’t want to do this, just tell me, it’s okay. I shouldn’t have blindsided you like that, I’m sorry. I’ll tell them the truth, okay?” She turns to do just that but Theon reaches out and grips her hand tightly before she can. 

“Do you really not want to go on a blind date this badly?” 

She shakes her head. “No, but it’s not just that. I’m so tired of my mom always pushing the whole ‘love’ thing on me. I know she means well, but I wish she could just see that I’m happy without all of that. If it gets her off my back though…” 

“I’ll do it.” 

She looks at him in shock. “Really?” 

He nods. “Sure, but what about after? I’m pretty sure you don’t plan for us to do this for the rest of our lives, do you?” 

She laughs. “No, absolutely not. We can just say that we figured out we’re better as friends and that’ll be that.” 

Theon sighs and then laughs, though it comes out a bit shaky. “I hope you know I wouldn’t do this for anyone else, Sansa.” 

The smile on her lips is so wide that it almost hurts. She throws herself into his arms and hugs him tightly. He grips her back and she’s happy that he seems to be okay with all of this. She wasn’t lying when she said that she would tell everyone the truth if he asked.

“Thank you,” she says into his shoulder. “I better go talk to Robb.” 

Theon winces at that. “Yeah. Please make sure he doesn’t want to kick my ass.” 

Sansa laughs as she pulls away from him. “He won’t kick your ass!” 

“He will if you just leave him out there!” 

 

Nobody pays attention to her as she walks through the living room. They’ve all gotten over the initial shock and are now talking about whatever it is they talk about. 

It’s chilly outside and she wishes she had a jacket on. Instead she just wraps her arms around herself and walks down the stairs of her apartment complex. Robb is sitting on the bottom step, looking at absolutely nothing. Sansa sits down next to him. 

“Hi,” she says. 

“Hey.” He doesn’t seem as mad as he had just moments ago. Instead he seems… a little sad. 

“I’m sorry,” she tells him. “We shouldn’t have told you like that.” She considers telling him the truth, but she knows that he would tell Arya or Margaery and Arya would definitely tell Jon who would tell Ygritte and so on, until her parents would eventually figure out that it was all one big lie. She just needed to convince them all until after their vacation and then things could go back to normal. 

“It’s not that. It’s just… Theon? Really?” 

She frowns at that. What was wrong with Theon? He was one of the best guys she had ever met. Sure, they had gotten off to a rocky start but now she couldn’t imagine her life without him in it. She definitely couldn’t ever see him leaving it. 

“I don’t understand what your problem is with him,” she says a little defensively. 

“I don’t have a problem with him. He’s my best friend and that’s why I know what he’s like. He doesn’t date people, not really and if he does then it never ends well. Theon can’t commit.” He finally turns to look at Sansa. “I don’t want to see you get hurt; not after everything that happened with…” he trails off, the way most of her family does when they bring up Joffery Baratheon. Sansa gets it, she does, but she also wishes that they wouldn’t act like he was Lord Voldemort or something. 

“You can say his name, you know. Joffery was an asshole. Theon isn’t him. I’m a little offended you could even say that.” 

“I’m _not_ saying that!” Robb defends. “I just don’t want you to get hurt again, Sansa, by anyone.” 

“We all have the power to hurt the ones we care about, but we have to trust that we’ll never do that; that _they’ll_ never do that. Otherwise we should all just stay single and guarded forever.” 

Truth is, even if this thing with her and Theon wasn’t fake, she would still trust him with her entire heart. Joffery had done a number on her and he was one of the main reasons she hated going back home to her parents, since he lived in the next city over. For a long time, she was scared to run into him; for a long time she was scared to trust other people, but then she realized that was no way to live. What Joffery did to her could not be undone. She could choose to be upset and hide herself from love and happiness for the rest of her life or she could move on. She could get up, stand up tall, roll back her shoulders, and show the world that he didn’t break her like he so desperately wanted to. He never could. 

“I hope he knows I’ll kick his ass if he even tries anything.” 

Sansa laughs and Robb finally smiles. 

“Yeah, I think he knows that,” she tells him. “Come on, lets go inside. It’s your turn to pick a movie.” She stands up and holds her hand out for him, which he gladly takes before pulling her into a hug. It’s quick, but it melts her heart all the same. 

 

When they step inside the apartment, everyone pauses for a second, trying to see if they’re about to witness a famous Stark sibling fight. 

“Where’s the remote?” Robb asks instead, a smile on his face. “Don’t think I’m letting you assholes steal my movie night!” 

“I swear to God,” Margaery says, “if you pick Law Abiding Citizen again.” 

“Yeah, Law Abiding Citizen!” Jon cheers, very much drunk now. 

Theon is sitting on the loveseat by himself. Sansa glances at him and he pats the small spot next to him. She feels a hundred times lighter as she moves to sit by his side, her thigh touches his, just barely, but the warmth is comforting all the same. 

Robb watches her and when Theon meets his best friend’s eyes, they share a look of understanding before Robb rolls his eyes and goes back to looking through movie titles. 

“Guess I’m not getting my ass kicked,” Theon whispers in her ear. 

“I don’t know about that,” she jokes. “Let’s see how the week goes by first.” 

Theon nods and throws an arm over her shoulders before his eyes widen comically. “Sansa.” 

“Yeah?” 

His voice is a bit louder when he speaks again. “Your dad is definitely going to kick my ass.” 

Arya, Jon, and Robb all howl with laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, thank you for reading and feel free to talk to me on tumblr @ lana-luthor <3


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